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441 Mr. Streier advised that the lease structure allowed Newport Partners to leverage <br />442 federal tax benefits through the sale of tax credits to investors; and provides the <br />443 City with a turnkey proposal, with all engineering, design, installation and <br />444 financing costs covered, and the City making annual power payments to Newport <br />445 Partners for electricity produced by the system at 85% of their Xcel Energy <br />446 contract rate. Mr. Streier further noted that, then after ten years, the City would <br />447 receive full ownership of the solar energy system at a cost of approximately one <br />448 year's power payment. <br />449 <br />450 Mr. Streier reviewed Newport Partners' product, consisting of silicon energy <br />451 photovoltaic modules, called a voyageur PV module versus a cascade system, and <br />452 reviewed the advantages of this product economically, and for commercial roof <br />453 top installations compared to other types of installations and maintenance. Mr. <br />454 Streier advised that this was a glass-on-gl ss design to provide maximum <br />455 durability in Minnesota winters and tem ture fluctuations; and was made in <br />456 Minnesota, with high efficiency cells to increase power, and be fully compatible <br />457 with widely used commercial racking systems and inverters; with a thirty-year <br />458 warranty, longer than the typical twenty-five year ranty for most solar systems <br />459 in the industry. <br />460 <br />461 At the request of Chair St and excludin e inverters, Mr. Streier advised <br />462 that the warranty extended thirty years, ten years beyond the cost projections <br />463 provided in the table provided by Mr. Streier (Attachment A) showing electricity <br />464 savings, down payment, and payback periods. Mr. Streier addressed the power <br />465 warranty over the first fifteen years, and thereafter, and replacement cost of <br />466 panels. <br />467 <br />468 Mr. Streier displayed examples of their product installations over the last few <br />469 years, and their ballasted modular installation versus punching holes in a roof for <br />470 some types of installations. <br />471 <br />472 t the request of Member Cihacek, Mr. Streier reviewed the City's upfront costs <br />473 and payback period for a roof installation and/or utilizing a community solar <br />474 garden approach. Mr. Streier advised that there lease was calculated based on <br />475 income from the lease for overall tax investors, based on a system of this size and <br />476 projected cost of $240,000 and ratios per year. Mr. Streier advised that for <br />477 community solar, it had yet to be readied until details were finalized by the Public <br />478 Utilities Commi on (PUC), as far as what to charge, and based on whether or <br />479 not those systems are fully subscribed, and whether assumptions are accurate after <br />480 the regulatory process is completed. Mr. Streier suggested that, if the City <br />481 decides to pursue community solar, and considers hosting it and capitalizing <br />482 installation to come up with 100% from other subscribers with no out-of-pocket <br />483 cost for the City, it also needed to be aware that it would receive no bill credits or <br />484 energy savings itself. However, Mr. Streier reviewed other options for the City to <br />485 be a host as well as a subscriber, therefore seeing bill credits for the City's <br />486 investment share as a subscriber, with a return on that investment or payback not <br />Page 11 of 17 <br />